I was born in De Soto, raised in De Soto and will always be a Desotian.  I have attended every De Soto Days/Watermelon Festival, had birthday parties at Zimmerman’s farm, watched fireworks at RiverFest Park, played at the De Soto parks, swam at the community pool, marched at halftime and graduated from Starside Elementary, Lexington Trails Middle School and now, De Soto High School. It’s a small town, but it’s my favorite small town, and it has made me who I am today.

Everyone knows everyone in De Soto. Sometimes this is a good thing, but it can also be bad. The people in this community have watched me grow from a Girl Scout selling cookies door to door to a graduating senior. I’ve been blessed to find a support system full of people cheering me on every step of the way.  But I do recognize that because everyone does know everyone, they also know each other’s business. There’s really not much you can get away with hiding here, whether it’s good or not.

Perhaps, most importantly, growing up in De Soto has given me the opportunity to develop close friends with people from diverse economic, social and ethnic backgrounds.  Every city has a spectrum of diversity.  In De Soto, however, we are too small to “clique” out segments of our population. The people here are our neighbors, regardless of their background or experience and we see them everywhere. De Soto allows people to be more accepting and tolerant of people from all walks of life; much more so than a gated community in the heart of Blue Valley.

With about 700 students at DHS, our school is also a small community within itself. Because of our size, I have been able to participate in every activity I’ve wanted to be a part of and have always felt welcome to every team, band or choir. Kids in bigger schools don’t get the change to participate in band, dance team, debate, theater and play softball.  I was able to do all of that just during my freshman year.

At a bigger school I would have been forced to choose or have my activities chosen for me. We are fortunate to be given the opportunity to be as outgoing and exposed to as many positive experiences as we can handle.

I am proud to be a Desotian.  De Soto is full of people who love you, no matter who they are or where they come from. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had in this community. The next time you whine about living in the town with the “McDonald’s on the way to Lawrence and one stop light,” think, instead, about all the great memories you’ve made here and the things you’d never have been able to try if you hadn’t been a Desotian. It is something of which you should really be proud and thankful for.